Attorney General Martha Coakley Reaches Settlement With Drug Second Manufacturer In Oral Contraceptive Lawsuit, Massachesetts
"In a time when health costs are rising by the day, our office will continue to challenge anticompetitive agreements in the pharmaceutical industry that tend to increase the cost of prescription drugs for Massachusetts consumers," said Attorney General Coakley. "This settlement demonstrates that drug manufacturers will not get away with entering into anticompetitive agreements that deprive consumers the benefit of lower priced generic alternatives."
This settlement prohibits Barr from entering into agreements with brand-name pharmaceutical companies that delay the introduction of cheaper generic drugs in the future. Specifically, for the ten-year term of the settlement, Barr, as the maker of the generic version of a branded pharmaceutical, is prohibited from entering into any agreement that would have the effect of limiting the manufacture, marketing or distribution of its generic product. Further, Barr must provide the states notice of certain agreements it enters into with branded drug manufacturers that have the potential to harm competition, and must make its records available to the states for inspection to determine whether the company is complying with the terms of the agreement.
The civil complaint was filed in 2005 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. According to the lawsuit, Ovcon has been sold in the United States since 1976 and Warner Chilcott became the exclusive U.S. distributor of Ovcon in 2000. During 2003, Barr Pharmaceuticals publicly announced that it planned to have a generic version of Ovcon on the market by the end of that year. The lawsuit alleges that Warner Chilcott paid Barr Pharmaceuticals $1 million in September 2003 for an agreement designed to prevent Barr's generic product from coming to market.
Under the terms of the alleged agreement, once Barr received FDA approval to market generic Ovcon, Warner Chilcott had 90 days to pay Barr $19 million, after which Barr would refuse to bring the cheaper generic version to the market. The lawsuit alleged that as a result of the agreement, Warner Chilcott paid Barr a total of $20 million to keep it from marketing its generic version of Ovcon.
In October 2006, after the States and the Federal Trade Commission filed actions against the companies, Warner Chilcott abandoned that part of its agreement with Barr that prevented Barr from marketing its generic version of Ovcon. Barr began selling generic Ovcon tablets in the United States shortly afterward, providing women a lower-cost option of the drug. In June 2007, Warner Chilcott agreed to pay the States $5.5 million in civil penalties and costs and to abide by an injunction which prevented it from entering into similar agreements with generic drug manufacturers for ten years. At that time, Massachusetts received a distribution of over $132,000 in civil penalties and fees.
Joining Massachusetts in today's settlement are: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio ,Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.
This mater is being handled by Assistant Attorney General Mary B. Freeley of the Attorney General's Antitrust Division.
http://www.mass.gov/ago
Avocat general Martha Coakley ajunge de decontare cu al doilea producãtor de droguri în proces de contraceptive orale, Massachesetts - Attorney General Martha Coakley Reaches Settlement With Drug Second Manufacturer In Oral Contraceptive Lawsuit, Massachesetts - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate